Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Me? Who?
I’m a lot of things professionally, but one thing I have been since my university days back in Europe during the 2000s was a rave runner.
Throughout my time studying in Europe, I was fortunate to attend some of the biggest music festivals in the world.
Now Malaysia has its own share of music festivals – most recently: Good Vibes 2022 at Sunway Lagoon. This will forever be one of the best music festivals I have ever attended for two reasons: I met two women, and I got a sharp insight into how relationships work.
The Saturday
I live pretty close to Sunway, so I had not planned on spending the night at the hotel. So when I and my group of friends showed up, we were planning to crash at my place. We got there early, stood in line, and then we’re through the gates ready to party and go with the flow of the music.
Going with that flow, meant that I lost my friends about 15 minutes after we got through the gates. It was bound to happen anyway. And I wasn’t worried. I went with the rhythm of the music. I wandered around, met some old faces, explored, met a few interesting people and moved with the music. That was when she caught my eye.
The Lady(ies)
Pretty. Brunette. An amazing smile that had this energy that hypnotized everyone around her. Australian? Maybe? The kicker was her partner, whom she was partly dancing with, partly teasing right there in the middle of the crowd to the rhythm and beats of Shallou at the Blue Stage. If she was Australian like I figured she was, then her partner in love, sex, life, and crime was Eastern European.
Stock image used for illustrative purposes only.
I didn’t want to get stalkerish here — too late probably — but I hung back, I just watched them enjoy themselves, the music, and basically each other for a few minutes. I admit that I let fantasy get the better of reality as I followed them to Blue Stage at a distance, then flowing to Pink Sweats. In the words of the rap poet Fat Joe, “What’s love got to do with a little ménage?”
While fantasies were going on in my head, I caught their attention and they waved me over to join them. It’s a festival. This is how you make friends at these things. I went over and said hi. We chatted for a few minutes. I offered to share a drink or two. Technology lets us share contacts in a heartbeat. I lost them in the crowd shortly after. But I didn’t mind. It’s a festival, and it happens.
The Night Was Young
Stock image used for illustrative purposes only.
Late in the night, the last set with headliner Jackson Wang was over, and I was winding down, preparing to make my way towards my friends when my phone beeped. It was a selfie, featuring two brunettes sharing a rather chaste kiss. That was followed by a six-word message, “We’re bored. What are you doing?”
Some rapid-fire Discord chatting later set it up: I tossed my house keys to one of my friends and I half walked/ran to the Lobby Lounge at the Sunway Resort, and we set off to a bar around that area.
The alcohol flowed and the conversations were thought-provoking and filled with double entendres and sexual innuendo. I kept trying to meet both their gazes to figure out what was going on.
What were my chances of looking like here, I found myself asking, and wondering if I misunderstood the selfie that was sent earlier? They shared a radiance that the photo didn’t capture as if they were eagerly anticipating an adventure.
We talked about ourselves and got to know each other.
One is a UI/UX designer from Australia. Her partner is a fashion designer. Turns out they were university sweethearts, who’d started attending festivals back in their university days, and they were still going strong a decade later.
I’m in my late thirties. Both had at least five years on me. Strangely. I didn’t mind.
The Flash Of Gold
That’s when I noticed the telltale flash of gold rings. Wedding. Rings. Well…damn…. Things just got interesting.
Stock image used for illustrative purposes only.
And they clearly noticed that I had noticed. They came clean: they were newlyweds.
Malaysia and Good Vibes were a part of their COVID-delayed honeymoon. They have another three days in Malaysia, then off they will be travelling somewhere else. That explains that vivacity for life, the smiles, and that golden glow the couple had around them. It’s that thing all newlyweds have.
The night flowed from there. Effortlessly as we talked and drank.
It was strange and strangely comfortable at the same time. We shared hopes, dreams, our favourite YouTubers, and channels. Selfies. I am not one for selfies.
I was comfortable enough to take a half dozen different ones with them.
We found a shared passion for gaming. They showed pictures, I shared a few. I started to get worried here, whether this connection was too perfect. Too good.
We’d been verbally feeling each other out for almost an hour. I didn’t want to bring up the obvious white elephant in the room. Finally, they did. They came right out and explained what they both wanted: a third.
Fantasy To Reality
They shared that they had taken in a third on several occasions, and the dynamic had only fueled their love, passions, and desires and taken things to a whole new level. They were doing this together. No fights, no drama, no break-ups. The Australian had been talking most of the time, but her partner interjected quietly and insightfully at many points.
It was one of those interjectory moments when I realized that I wasn’t in lust with either of them. I somehow wanted both and realized that if I dared, I could have both, instead of just one of them.
They both realized my revelation with these coquette smiles at each other. They reached across the table, between the array of empty glasses and half-finished drinks.
“They placed their hands on mine. I’ve had my share of one-night stands and hookups. I’ve been toothin’. But this was something different.”
That was the proverbial “it” moment.
They were both openly inviting me into their relationship.
Strangely, something about this felt very real, very tangible. This was not another random hook-up. It felt like they were letting me become a part of their lives.
We Didn’t Sleep That Night
We left the bar and headed up to their room. As the room door closed behind us, I heard the lock turn with a sense of finality.
Of predestination. Somebody put on music and things got started.
“This was supposed to be the craziest night of sex of my life. I’d gotten this far. I was ready to try anything. I let them set the tone, the pace, and the mood.”
We moved from the doorway, somehow, to the bathroom, a long hot shower together where it was impossible to keep things straight any longer. I just followed along as they kissed me, each other, and explored every centimetre of skin we could find.
They checked in regularly to make sure I was comfortable. Believe me. I was.
Keeping track of four hands was taxing, to say the least, and though it had its moments of awkwardness, I did feel comfortable, and safe.
I think I gained valuable insight into what it’s like to be shrouded in a new romance. Where you are perfect and in the eyes of your lover you can do nothing wrong.
I don’t know how long it took us to move from the shower to the bedroom, but I know that the emotions I felt that night will linger in the months ahead.
They offered me a rare glimpse into a relationship, where love, trust, pleasure, and passion are literally holy communion.
The hours passed that night in a haze of lust, laughter, and sex. I had them both. We dozed. I had them separately. We had each other.
A Night To Remember
It was one night. Just one night. I don’t think I will ever know a night like that, ever again. It was just before dawn when I emerged from the shower. She was awake, and she gave me the same coquette smile I had fallen a little in love with last night.
She offered to let me spend the day with them. But it was a Sunday. My normal work and life await me on Monday. I had to leave.
It really was the last thing that I wanted to do. I think they understood. We had breakfast together, and then we took one last picture together, just outside the lobby lounge. The three of us smiled at the camera. We’d come full circle.
I’d taken the BRT and LRT trains, and I kept flipping through the few dozen photos we’d taken together. Repeatedly. They occupied my thoughts on the way home.
I messaged them, politely, just to say thanks for a wonderful and memorable experience. They replied almost a day later. The conversation was stilted. Different.
Instead of talking and sharing like that perfect first night, I was trying to carry a one-sided conversation. I got the message. I wished them well and stopped.
Back To Life & Reality
My mind was in overdrive for the next few days, with fantasies and daydreams of the three of us. I was having dreams of some sort of threesome domestic bliss. Laughable. Us going out to dinner or laughing at some random movie. Totally ridiculous!
I checked my phone, always silently hoping, but knowing that there would be no new messages. There still hasn’t been one. Odds are, there never will be.
Stock image used for illustrative purposes only.
I wrote this, and my first few drafts were… wrong. Having read and redrafted this, it clicked. This was not about rejection. That part sucked. It hurt. It’s rejection. Everyone who has taken a chance on a relationship knows what that feels like.
But I understood something. I gained a second, sharp insight, and this time it actually hurt. They had a relationship of their own with each other. What made that night feel so real, so emotional for me was their strength and the realness of their relationship.
It was not one brunette or the other. It was not about having them both. But it was their togetherness, their chemistry. It was getting to experience the strength of their love, commitment, and bond to each other. I had been invited in to share and experience their romance with them.
Rap poet Fat Joe once said, “What’s love got to do with a little ménage?” Once upon a time, I thought I knew the answer to that question.
I’ve learned the answer: ‘Tis only when you have a connection this strong, this stable, with so much trust, can you actually have love and a ménage à trois.
If I’m lucky, I’ll find that connection one day. And I know I’ll be too damned greedy and possessive to share.
Know anyone with an interesting story to share? Drop us an email at hello@inreallife.my, and we may feature the story!
For more stories like this, read:
I Am In A Polyamorous Relationship With My Boyfriend. Here’s How We Make It Work
5 Unspoken Expectations in a Relationship That Nobody Told Me About — And How I Faced Them
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